To be a successful student at home we all know how important it is to nourish our bodies with healthy foods. What about feeding our brains to enhance academic performance? When a student is enrolled in online high school, learning from the comfort of their own home, they can set up a healthy and beneficial mealtime schedule and menu. Hope High School Online encourages our students to take advantage of the non-traditional setting of school from home and plan a schedule that best fits them both physically and mentally.
Importance of Meal Time
At a traditional high school campus, the bell rings, students race to the cafeteria, and can wait up to 15 minutes in lines to get their lunch. This leaves students anywhere from 5 to 10 minutes to eat the entire lunch that is supposed to nourish them for the rest of the school day. If the student is not packing their lunch every day to avoid this, they can be left in this routine every day for their mealtime. A typical lunch from the cafeteria is cheese pizza, canned fruit, tater tots and ketchup, dessert item, and milk. Because of these food options, students who regularly eat school lunch are 30% more likely to be obese.
Now imagine eating when hungry, making a healthy meal you actually want to eat, and doing this all in your own kitchen. Instead of the typical 5 to 10-minute lunch students have in a traditional high school setting, a student enrolled in Arizona online high school can take the time to enjoy a nutritious lunch that will benefit their academic performance.
In a 2017 study, nutritionists studied the importance of the amount of time a student has for their lunch. When students had more than 25 minutes to eat their lunch, they finished significantly more of their entrees, vegetables, and milk than students who had less than 20 minutes to eat. This shows how important it is to set up healthy eating habits for students to be successful at home. In a school from a home setting, a student can do just that. Whether a student wants to have a set schedule for their day or go more with the flow of each day, healthy eating habits can be made a priority every day.
Brain Food for Brain Power
There are delicious foods and snacks that can give our brains a little boost of brainpower and memory. Keeping your mind in peak working condition can help memory and concentration. This improves a student’s focus and active engagement in the learning process. Students enrolled in Arizona online high school can have healthy snacks readily available as an excellent way to encourage lifelong healthy eating habits.
These 9 foods are fantastic brain food and easy snacks to have around to keep a student’s brain healthy and working hard – and as a successful student at home.
Blueberries | Broccoli | Oranges | Green Tea | Coffee | Pumpkin Seeds | Nuts | Dark Chocolate | Eggs
Lots of antioxidants in a daily diet protects the brain against damage and supports the brain’s health. This boosts alertness, memory, and mood. Adding these foods into your daily diet can help you perform better on tests, improve memory when studying, and provide more energy to stay alert throughout school time.
There is an added bonus of incorporating these foods into a healthy diet. Research shows that they create a positive effect on mood. A healthy diet, good study habits, and positive attitude towards learning can all work together to increase academic success.
About Hope High School Online
At Hope High School Online, we are 100% committed to our Arizona online high school students’ success. It is the reason why we provide a supportive academic environment – because we know our students’ success is more than just passing a test. We equip our students to succeed academically and in life.
If you are still researching your options for an accredited, free Arizona online high school, download the Hope High School Online info kit HERE, use live chat on our website, e-mail us HERE, or give us a call at 602-663-8496. We offer an award-winning curriculum, a safe environment, we support students and families, and our students succeed! Find out more HERE!
Sources:
Gaille, B. (2017, May 25). 25 Unhealthy School Lunches Statistics. Retrieved from https://brandongaille.com/24-unhealthy-school-lunches-statistics/
Jennings, K. (2017, May 9). 11 Best foods to boost your brain and memory. Retrieved from https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/11-brain-foods#section7
Sparks, S. D. (2019, March 12). Why Lunch, Exercise, Sleep, and Air Quality Matter at School. Retrieved from https://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2019/03/13/why-lunch-exercise-sleep-and-air-quality.html?cmp=eml-enl-ewpce-smov